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British Columbia
VANCOUVER —
Pipe schemes Crack
cocaine users in Vancouver are asking Health Canada
to let them use a smoking room at the city's safe injection
site. Crack user Rob Morgan says that a safe inhalation
site would get users like him off the street and just
might get some addicts into treatment. When the Vancouver
Coastal Health Authority built the safe injection site,
space was set aside for a safe inhalation room. Health
Canada officials say they want to see some research
before they approve the safe inhalation site. CS
VANCOUVER
— Extreme
ethical conundrum Two winners of a local BC extreme
makeover contest (modelled on ABC TV's hit show "Extreme
Makeover") may not be able to get the surgical procedures
promised. Rick Birch and Dayna Gill each won $50,000
worth of services. The BC College of Physicians and
Surgeons has expressed concern about the ethics of offering
plastic surgery as a prize and may try to ban the province's
surgeons from taking part in the contest. CS
Alberta
FORT SASKATCHEWAN
— Waving
placards for a new hospital The city of Fort
Saskatchewan is taking its fight for a new acute-care
hospital to the streets. Mayor Ken Hodgins and his town's
hospital replacement committee want a new $24-million
facility to replace the 50-year-old facility in the
community of 14,000. They plan to hold a public rally
in mid-September to increase public support. Mr Hodgins
says the current hospital is one of Alberta's busiest.
GH
EDMONTON
— The
skinny on CFS Thanks to recent findings hinting
at a connection between chronic fatigue syndrome and
skin conductivity, researchers are hopeful they'll be
able to create a simple test for the famously difficult-to-diagnose
and easy-to-fake syndrome. Lead researcher Dr Hannah
Pazderka-Robinson of Alberta Hospital Edmonton found
higher skin temperatures among people who suffer from
the syndrome than those in a control group. Psychiatrist
Dr Pierre Flor-Henry of the hospital's Clinical Diagnosis
and Research Centre coauthored the study. GH
Saskatchewan
MOOSOMIN —
Mysterious sickness
shuts down school School's still out for kids
in the sleepy southeastern Saskatchewan town of Moosomin
(population 2,605). Nineteen teachers fell ill with
eye irritations and skin rash. The illness is believed
to have spread during a teacher meeting held just days
before school was to set to resume. Some teachers spent
the night in a hospital. The school will remain closed
until further notice. CS
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Manitoba
WINNIPEG —
Crack pack In
other crack-user news, the Winnipeg Regional Health
Authority (WRHA) is distributing safer 'crack-use kits'
to local crack cocaine addicts to cut down on the health
risk associated with using the drug. The kits —
which cost less than $2 — contain a straight glass
pipe, screens, alcohol swabs, matches, a pipe cleaner,
lip balm, chewing gum and condoms. WRHA spokesperson,
Dr Margaret Fast, says that the kits will help protect
the user and lessen the incidence of diseases like hepatitis
B and C among addicts. CS
STEINBACH
— Doing
it on her own Intrepid Steinbacher Veronica Fuchs
is hoping to raise the cash to buy her hometown its
own dialysis machine by canvassing local businesses
and churches. Ms Fuchs was frustrated when her elderly
grandfather had to travel to Winnipeg for treatment
rather than stay close to home. The Southeast Manitoba
Health Authority argues that Steinbach has relatively
few patients who need dialysis and that the treatment
is an expensive specialty service that can't be available
everywhere in the province. CS
Ontario
THUNDER BAY —
North gets new
med school In late August, ground was broken
on the new $8-million medical school project in northern
Ontario. Premier Dalton McGuinty was on hand for the
photo op saying the school will help deliver better
healthcare to the northern region. Construction will
begin on the new facility this month and classes are
scheduled to start August 2005. PB
TORONTO
— No
more dough for hospitals Ontario hospitals are
out of luck if they're looking for more money. The Provincial
Health Minister, George Smitherman, announced that the
hospitals will have to make do with the $11-billion
budget, despite a $600-million budget shortfall. The
Ontario Hospital Association says that if the provincial
government won't offer up some financial relief, they'll
have to consider cuts in emergency wards, chemotherapy
and neonatal intensive care. CS
Quebec
HULL —
Bad water rains
on nephrology centre's parade Plans to move dialysis
equipment into the new Desjardins pavilion of the Hull
Hospital have been put on hold by Health Canada until
mid-October. Technical problems are causing the delay.
The quality of water used to dilute the dialysis solutions
isn't up to Health Canada standards. CS
BUCKINGHAM
— Cops
forced into ambulance chaser role A woman who
got a little bit stir crazy while waiting in a hospital
ER decided to kill some time by taking an ambulance
on a joyride. The unlocked vehicle sat idling with the
key in the ignition when the 'seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time'
incident occurred. Police arrested the women upon her
return to the hospital. Authorities suspect mental illness
was a factor in the woman's behaviour. CS
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